Fire Emblem: Guardsmen
by Necro-Knight Nate
Summary: Watching from afar gets boring after awhile. This knight has decided to take fate into his own hands. He expected the undead, bandits, and Grimleal; but babysitting? Oh, the role of a Guardsman can be such a pain. Rating may change to M in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

FIRE EMBLEM: A GUARDIAN'S TALE

Fire. If you asked me what I remembered about the Future, that's all I could tell you; fire. A hellish landscape, scarred by that ever-lingering glow of the flames, corpses shambling along, ripping apart those who fell defending that landscape. It's a nightmare come true; how I wish I could forget it.

My name is Arke. Arke Sellith. I used to be part of the Exalt's Royal Guard. And before you ask, no, not the Pegasus Knights. Those ninnies had it easy, nothing like what we did. Besides, it's not like they would let a guy in anyway; whoever heard of a male Pegasus Knight?

My job was relatively simple; keep watch of the Exalt and keep her out of danger. However, the catch was to not even let her know we were there. Absolutely no one was to see, hear, or even smell us when we were doing our job. We were the Exalt's shadow, so to speak, and we took care of trouble before anyone else even knew there was trouble to be had.

However, that was during Exalt Emmeryn's reign. The Guard, after her untimely death, was ordered to disband until another Exalt was chosen. At that time, we all assumed it would be a brief hiatus, since Prince Chrom was obviously next in line to the throne. But, to our greatest horror, and probably because we were forced to disband, the Prince was gravely injured in the assassination attempt that killed Lady Emmeryn. Fortunately, he survived, but those wounds did a number on him; you could tell just by looking at his face when he was walking that he was in immense pain.

At this point, I grew worried about what would happen to Chrom and the rest of the Royal Family if the Guard wasn't there to protect them. I sought out the Leader of the Royal Guard, who we call Guardmaster, and pleaded that we call the Guardsmen back together. But the Guardmaster, claiming that since tradition stated that he must be Exalt, brushed my plea aside and did nothing.

Little did I know that he was, in fact, a Grimleal on the inside; worshipers of the Fell Dragon, Grima, who long for his return so that he may bring ruin onto the world.

I found out later that it didn't matter if he was Exalt or not, the Royal Guard had a duty to protect Chrom and his family. But by the time I found this out, it was already too late; Chrom had been killed at the hands of his best friend, and Grima, the Fell Dragon, had been unleashed upon the world.

As soon as I learned of this, I immediately confronted the Guardmaster and demanded that the Guardsmen be brought back together; the Pegasus Knights were all but eradicated, and there was no one else left to protect the remnants of the Royal Family, which consisted only of Chrom's sister, Lissa, his Wife Sumia, and his daughters Lucina and Cynthia. But the Guardmaster had gone insane; when I arrived at his office I found several corpses of fellow Guardsmen who had the same idea as I, and a severely wounded Guardmaster, sitting in his chair, blood covering his front and laughing maniacally about the return of his master, Grima.

I ended his life there, with no remorse. He was a bastard, a murderer, and a lunatic. It was no mercy killing; I made sure he suffered as much as my comrades-in-arms did. After that, I tried to gather the rest of the Guardsmen who had not fled so that the rest of the Family might be safe, but most of them had mysteriously dissapeared, or had otherwise been killed by the Risen or other means. I did my best on my own to protect Lissa, Sumia, Lucina and Cynthia, but unfortunately, I just wasn't good enough. Lissa was killed in a Risen ambush when she was out helping to heal the injured Resistance soldiers, and Sumia fell in battle, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Risen that attacked her. I was only able to keep Lucina and Cynthia safe, for they had been left in Ylisstol, with the biggest part of the Resistance still residing there.

I watched them grow from a distance, always a beat behind in case horror struck unexpectedly, for I was still bound by my code to remain hidden. There was another child too; Owain, Lissa's son, but I was unable to watch over him, for his Father Lon' Qu decided it would be safer to return to Regna Ferox, and took Owain with him. I had heard reports that Regna Ferox was a pretty safe place at the moment, and so I let them be.

As Lucina and her sister grew, the remnants of the Resistance naturally looked to them for Leadership, as they were the only ones left with Royal blood. While I could tell she was reluctant to do so, Lucina decided that she could lead them. At first, I was skeptical; she was still a young woman at this point, probably no older than sixteen, but she was surprisingly efficient, and as she grew older, she grew more and more responsible and level headed. While I admired this in her, I also felt pity; she was forced to cast aside her childhood and try to piece a nation back together that was already broken to start with. Cynthia did her best to help where she could, but she didn't possess the same amount of seriousness Lucina had, and that unfortunately made her seem a little less of a leader to her people.

During the time when Lucina was coming into Adulthood, there was many Risen assassination attempts to end her life. Luckily, I was there to stop all of them. It was actually a little humorous; the next morning she would get a report that Risen had infiltrated the castle that night, but had all been mysteriously bludgeoned to death, and it had not been one of the guards. The look on her face was priceless whenever this happened; it looked like a combination of both gratitude and jealousy, as if SHE wanted to kill all those Risen. These were nearly the only happy times I had with them, and things were just going to get worse from here.

My story starts at one fateful eve, where both Cynthia and Lucina had reached adulthood, near their early twenties I beleive. It was a quiet evening, and I stood watching the night move by slowly from one of the Guardsmen's many balconies. I brushed some of my lime-green hair from my eyes; it always did this when it grew to shoulder length. I took a deep breath and re-adjusted my armor, checking the white colored greaves just one more time before heading back up to the chest piece and checking it as well. When I joined the Guardsmen, they told me having armor would only restrict my movements, but I figured the extra protection always comes in handy, which it did many times. I still got criticized for it by my fellow members alot though, even if it was just armor for my legs and chest. They also hated the white; said it was too visible when sneaking around. I always laughed when they brought this up: "I don't sneak, remember? I punch stuff.", is what I'd always tell them. I smiled at the memory and looked down at my gauntlets.

To the ignorant, what I wear to cover my hands and forearms would seem to be simply a pair of white gauntlets with some red cloth tied around it; but that's where they'd be totally wrong. I held up an armored hand to the moon and began twisting it around, examining it for cracks and stopping at the red jewel in the middle of my palm. I'm rather proud of these beauties; they're my own design. See, my way of fighting is much more...close quarters than other styles. I prefer using my fists.

Why my fists? I'm not too sure myself. I guess I just liked the freedom my fists bring, and so I crafted my Fists of Steel to do this task. However, I didn't stop there. It took years of research, but I finally did it; I found a way to concentrate magic into an object for battle use. In truth, it wasn't hard; it was like charging up a staff's gem so that Clerics can heal, but with this gem in my gauntlets, I can absorb the magic from ANY tome and use it to shoot magic out of the jewels or super-charge my punches. I guess this was half the reason I was recruited into the Guardsmen...

I sigh as I turn from the balcony and head back inside to my chambers; if you can call them that. My room is small, even for a hidden room, and square in shape, but it only consists of my bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and a mirror. I walk over to the mirror and look inside, straightening the red tunic underneath my armor, and I decide to use this time to reflect on- well, my reflection.

My green eyes shine in the mirror as they scan my face. Not that bad, actually...aside from a few wrinkles and scars and the occasional bag under my eye, my face has aged pretty well. I run my fingers through the shaggy lime-green beard I sport as I ponder why this could be; my family has a history of aging rather rapidly. I shrug and step away from the mirror.

"Nothing else to do but check up on the castle, I guess." I say to myself as I walk to my "door" and peek out through the hole in the middle of it and scan the hallway. Seems to be clear, so I grab my red cape from the coat hanger near the door, tie it around my neck, and slowly push the painting, or my door, forward until it's just enough for me to step out. Once my feet hit the carpeted floor, I gently swing the painting back into place. There were many hidden rooms and paths such as these scattered around the castle, known only to a select few people outside of the Guardsmen.

I begin my stroll of the castle at a slow pace. It's a quiet night, and I don't need to worry much about being spotted by the guards; they usually just patrol the grounds outside. However...the stillness in the air is unsettling. It's never usually THIS quiet...you can't even hear the crickets making their simple songs. Something is wrong here. I can feel it.

Turns out I was right, because a sudden explosion from somewhere in the castle rocked me off my feet. I quickly righted myself and sprinted to the stairs. I don't know how, but a mob of Risen had somehow broken through the castle gate! The few soldiers who were guarding that gate were trying desperately to repel the mass of invaders, but were having little luck. I wanted to help them, but my first duty was making sure Lucina and Cynthia were safe. I quickly ran back up the staircase and began the stretch to Lucina's chambers. It took awhile, considering that she sleeps on the fourth floor, and as soon as reached the hallway reaching it, I reeled back in shock. The hall was filled with Ylissean soldiers and Risen fighting viciously.

I quickly reached into the satchel on my side and pulled out a tome; a Thoron to be precise. I quickly held the tome in both hands and watched as the cover burned away and the pages began to swirl into a sphere. The jewels in my palms glow, and the sphere bursts into a ball of magical energy. I hold my hands out underneath the sphere, and the magic begins to flow into the jewels. After a few seconds, the magic has been fully absorbed, and I flex my hands, my gauntlets surging with electric energy.

At this point I had attracted the attention of a few Risen from my little light show, and three undead Fighters began shambling their way to me. I quickly aim my palms at two of them and two Thoron's rip through their torsos. They crumple to the ground and begin to fade away, but the third one is now charging at me, Steel Axe raised, and man, is it fast! I barely have time to sidestep the wild slash, but I quickly recover and deliver a Thron-charged fist right to the back of its head. It goes flying into the wall and falls to the ground, the back of its head completely missing as it fades away.

I turn back to the sea of warriors and scan for Lucina. I manage to spot her speaking to a soldier she has just rescued, and then turns to another Risen just behind her and begins slashing. I sigh as I begin making my way to her, delivering punches and Thoron's to those Risen who got too close.

I was just about to reach her when suddenly the entire right wall was blown inward, sending chunks of brick everywhere and me flying to the opposite wall. I slide down it and fall to the ground, my back in pain but fine. I raise my head and look around at what's left of the hallway; dead soldiers left and right, as well as the remnant weapons of the Risen they were fighting.

"SO ENDS THE HUMAN RACE."

...well, that doesn't sound good. Sure enough, I stand to see Lucina standing in the middle of the room pointing Falchion at the giant purple eye staring at her; the eye of Grima, the Fell Dragon.

"THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD IS BUILT UPON THE PAST. BUT YOUR KIND WILL NEVER SEE IT!"

I can see even from how far away I am now the fear on Lucina's face. I begin slowly moving towards her, trying not to attract Grima's attention. The purple eyes focus onto Lucina now.

"YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER ARE DEAD, TINY ONE."

At this, I can see that the stoic face Lucina is trying to keep begin to falter, and she begins breathing rapidly, still pointing Falchion. Grima begins to laugh a cold, merciless laugh as it rears it's head back to strike. Thank the Gods he hasn't spotted me yet.

"AND NOW IT IS YOUR TURN..."

I summon all my remaining magical power into my right gauntlet and take aim.

"TO DIIIIIIIIEEE!"

Lucina screams as Grima's head thrusts forward, it's maw open wide ready to swallow her whole.

"NOT WHILE I CAN STAND!"

I shout this as I send all of my magic into one super charged Thoron and shoot it at one of Grima's eyes. It connects successfully, and Grima's head rears back as it cries out in pain. Lucina turns towards my way with a puzzled look on her face.

"Don't just stand there gapping you nitwit, come on!"

My cry shakes her back into reality, and she nods as she follows me down the stairs. The castle is deserted of a single living thing, the non-living ones taking their place. Lucina has trouble keeping up with me, but I always slow down so she can catch up. We stop in front of a large painting of Emmeryn, and I grab the side and fling it open, letting Lucina in first and closing it behind us.

I let out a sigh of releif and turn to Lucina, only to see Falchion inches away from my face.

"Tell me who you are. Right now."

Her tone is serious with with a hint of anger. I sigh as I look at her with an expression of disbeleif.

"Are you really going to kill the man who rescued you?"

"Not if you tell me who you are."

Wow. Haven't heard that line before, Princess. I roll my eyes and try to move past her, but she quickly moves in front of me, Falchion still at the ready. I sigh as she does this.

"Can you let me by?"

"Tell me who you are first."

"Look, I'm trying to help yo-"

"Help me? Do you know how many Assassin's have told me that right before they tried to kill me?"

"Seven."

"...that's actually correct. How did you know that?"

She drops her guard for a moment here, but a moments all I need. I quickly grab Falchions handle from her hand and lightly push her away with the other. She stumbles back, and watches with a surprised look as I insert Falchions blade into my desk and stick it there.

"Look, all you need to know right now is that I'm a friend, and I'm here to help you. Think about it; if I was an Assassin, why would I save you from Grima?"

She opens her mouth to answer, but shuts it quickly as she realizes she has nothing to say otherwise. I walk over to the wall next to my desk and press the third stone from the bottom, which causes the stones to rumble a little, then crumble away, revealing a passageway. I turn to Lucina and look her dead in the eye.

"Grab Falchion and compose yourself. We're leaving.

She nods slightly as she walks to my desk and pulls Falchion out. She turns to me with a puzzled look.

"But...where are we going?"

I turn to look out the balcony one last time before I turn back to Lucina and answer her.

"The past."

Hello everyone! Knight Nate here. Enjoying the story so far? I assume you would be if you made it all the way down here. Anyhow, in case you haven't noticed, this story will mainly follow my OC, Arke, and what he does to help the future from the past. I'm not really planning for him to join the Shepherds; he's going to be doing his own thing really. That being said, he probably would be alone the whole time, and that just won't do! So, I have decided that I might take an OC or two, three at the max. I don't have a lot of experience with writing other people's characters, so I want the group to stay small. However, I will NOT be supplying you with a form. I don't really like forms because they don't really give you room to personalize your OC as you'd want it. Instead, if you'd like to submit an OC and have an idea for it, message me with the Subject as FE: GUARDIAN OC and we can mold your idea together as we see fit, or if you're more comfortable with forms, you may create your own and send that to me. Whatever floats your boat.

Also, I'd like to thank my friend RottoVoce for dealing with me as I was writing this. God knows the poor man deserves it. But hey! If you're a fan of the HOTD anime, check his profile out. He's got some stories I'd think you'd like. Thanks for reading, and happy birthday if it's your birthday today!

-Knight Nate


	2. A Blade Wreathed in Shadow

CHAPTER 2: A BLADE WREATHED IN SHADOW

Our footsteps echoed off the stone walls as we descended the long flight of stone stairs. It was a relatively new passage; who made it is still a mystery. The wall sconces still burn brightly, no doubt by some form of enchantment. Lucina trails behind me, but I can still tell that her hand was on Falchion's handle, ready to slash at a moments notice. I sigh and shake my head, and a small grin finds it's way onto my face as I turn my head towards Lucina, slowing my pace on the steps.

"You can relax, Princess. There won't be any Risen down here. No one but the Guardsmen know about these tunnels."

I flash her a smile to try and make her more relaxed, but her grip only tightens and her eyes narrow.

"You don't know that. The Risen can pop up out of nowhere, and if you're not on guard when that happens, you might as well have a sign hung around your neck that says 'Decapitate me!'."

I roll my eyes at this. While she is technically right, Risen can only pop up somewhere if their summoner is nearby, and in sight of where he wants them to go. However, when I let her know this, she gave me an intense glare and turned her head away.

I shrug, then turn back to steps. I figured the walk down would go faster if I started counting the steps. I was right, but as I was nearing two hundred, I was interrupted.

"What's your name?"

The suddenness of the question made me jump a little; in truth, I had forgotten Lucina was there. I turned back around to the bluenette and raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I would like to know the name of the one who...saved me."

She seemed reluctant to finish the sentence. I guess she was just so used to be the savior and not the one in distress that the very word was like a venom on her tongue. I chuckled, but answered her with a smile.

"Arke Sellith, at your service."

I even gave a little bow, which she seemed to enjoy, as I could spot the slightest of smiles flit upon her face before it quickly dissapeared.

"Well, thank you for the assistance, Arke."

"Dont mention it. All part of the job, My Lady."

Her eyebrows raised a little at this.

"Ah. So you're a Knight, then?"

I paused at this. The Stanza's of the Guardsmen, our little guidebook I guess you could call it, specifically state that we are not to tell anyone what we do, least of all the Royal Family. However, with most of the Guardsmen dead or probably dying, I don't think anyone would really care anymore. After all, I did just break the biggest rule we have; don't be seen. I decided to take a more cautious approach with this, just in case.

"Well...in a manner of speaking, yes."

Her head cocked in a queer manner as she responded to this.

"Why haven't I seen you around the castle? I know almost every guard by name, but yours...isnt ringing any bells."

My eyes dart to the left, and I turn my head back to the stairs. I have to think up an excuse, and quickly!

"Uh...well...I...I usually patrol the outside of the castle. It's usually very dark and shady out there, even during the day, so i'm not surprised you haven't spotted me."

I mentally facepalm at the stupidity of the excuse. I can practically hear her brow furrowing in suspicion.

"Right...I guess so."

For some reason or another, she didn't pry into it. If it was because she didn't care or actually bought it, i'll never know. After a few more minutes of trudging down what seemed to be these endless steps, we finally reached the bottom. In front of us appears to be a giant cavern, stalactites and stalagmites covering both the ceiling and ground as more sconces dot the walls, except these ones aren't as bright as the ones on the stairs, and give off a much more dim glow for the cavern. At the far end, I can make out what appears to be another tunnel; the way out, I presume?

However, before I can even take a single step, I hear movement. Very slight, but its there, a gentle footstep. Someone, or maybe something, is watching us...and I cant tell if its friend or foe. I hold out my arm in front of Lucina to stop her from moving forward and examine the environment with the little light I have.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

I don't answer, and instead reach into my side satchel and pull out a Rexcalibur. After my little light show and the magic is absorbed, I begin to scan the environment again, searching for even the tiniest bit of movement in the shadows.

I can feel Lucina stare at me as she moves closer to me, Falchion drawn and at the ready.

"Is someone nearby?"

As if to answer her, a small stone comes loose from a nearby boulder, and I immediately let fly a Rexcalibur at it. It's subtle, but I can see a figure dash away from the rock as my spell hits it. However, it's not that fast, thank the gods, and I manage to send a few more spells in front of the figure, stopping it in its tracks.

After the dust settles, I finally get a clear look at the figure, and have to do a double take at what I see:

A boy, no older than fifteen, with a long black Katana in his right hand with shaggy dark blue hair stands in front of us. He seems to be wearing the standard garments of an Assassin: the black hooded cape, the grey tunic with leather armor over it, some grey leather pants with some black leather greaves, a pair of black boots, and some long blacks gloves cover his hands. His outfit also seems to sport a numerous amount of pockets, more than I can count just by looking at him.

The thing that stood out the most about him was the mask; a mask of pure steel that covered pretty much the entire bottom half of his face, including his nose. The only parts you could see were his dark brown eyes, which were seemingly glinting in the low light.

I held out a palm and kept it centered towards this new arrival, ready to let loose some magic just in case. I figured we ought to try and find out if this boy is friend or foe, but before I had a chance to speak, he started darting towards us, his katana at his side and ready to strike when necessary. I quickly fling a Rexcalibur, expecting him to change direction, but he did something that I would have never expected. The fool kept running right at the spell.

When he reached the large green tornado, he slashed right through its middle with his blade. The tornado stopped dead in its tracks, and after a second or two...poof! It fell away into a green dust.

I stood in awe, staring at the kid who had taken another stance that looked like he was preparing to start dashing again. My eyes settled back onto the Katana, and that's when it hit me; it must have the power to dispel magic! Damn...this fight just got a lot harder. I stepped in front of Lucina and assumed a defensive stance, both gauntlets out, ready to counter if necessary.

"Stay back, Princess! I wont let any harm befall you!"

At this, the boy stopped his advance rather suddenly, only a few feet away from me.

"Wait...Princess?"

His voice was a little raspy and gave off a sort of echo effect, probably due to the mask, but even so...it still held that naive tone that children always seem to have.

"Is that...Princess Lucina?"

I raised an eyebrow at this. It seems like he knows the Princess somehow, but I cant say how. Lucina stepped out from behind me, Falchion drawn, and she gave the boy a once over with her eyes.

"...who is it that's asking for her?"

As soon as he heard her voice, the boy flung himself towards her and knelt at her feet, staring up at Lucina with eyes aglow in wonder. It was only then that I realized how short he was: only about five feet, give or take a couple inches.

"My Lady! I'm so glad I found you! Once I heard that the castle had been assaulted by the Risen I...I-I thought that you...that you m-might've..."

What in the world? Is the kid...crying? Just a minute ago he looked ready to gut me, but now he's crying up enough tears to make another river.

Lucina looked over to me with an extremely confused look on her face. I shrugged back to her; I was never the type of guy to deal with crying kids. Never have, never will. She looked back down at the boy and slowly started to pat his head in a reassuring manner.

"Uh...there, there, now. It's alright. Please, don't cry. Uh...what's your name?"

Immediately, the boy sprung from his knee and stood up straight tall, still sniffling from his little episode.

"R-Ryan, My Lady. Ryan Darkblade."

I scratched my beard at his name. Darkblade? Where have I heard that before...wait. No. No way. It couldn't be...

I turned my head to the boy with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Hold on a second...YOU"RE 'Darkblade'? The 'Darkblade' everyone around the Guardsmen have been talking about? That Master of Sneaking or whatever?"

The boy looked over to me with a look of complete innocence and dis-interest.

"Yeah. So what?"

I stood there for a few moments as I let this register.

"You're...a lot younger than I was expecting."

The boy seemed to get a little peeved at this; his cheeks turned a bright shade of red and gave me an angry glare, which might have actually been intimidating...if he wasn't standing up on his toes to try and be taller than me, which was a very futile attempt.

"What, you got a problem with that, Gramps?"

I'll admit I was a little taken aback from his comment. I must have really struck a nerve in him.

"Gramps? I'm only thirty one."

The boy seemed to not hear what I said, choosing instead to try and further humiliate me.

"Who cares if im younger than all of the Guardsmen? I dont see YOU in an elite group of Knights!"

He pointed at me with a tiny finger and a smug grin. I crossed my arms and looked down at the boy with an extremely annoyed look.

"I AM a part of the Guardsmen. How do you think I recognized you in the first place?"

The boys' grin quickly faded into a look of surprise, then to one of deep embarrassment.

"W-Wait, what? You...you are?"

I knelt down next to him and let him see the tattoo of the green dragon in front of two crossed blue swords; the insignia of the Guardsmen.

"All of us get one of these somewhere on our bodies. Need any more proof?"

He stared at it for a while, then looked back to me. We had what seemed to be a mini staring contest, then after a minute or so, I saw an expression of recognition crawl onto his face.

"Wait...I heard about you! A huge man with green hair and seemingly magic fists...You're the White Fist, aren't you?"

I nodded with a small smile that was hidden through my beard. What? It's nice to be recognized sometimes. The boy seemed to become a great deal calmer now that the whole situation has been processed, and is no longer brandishing the black blade he once held, instead sheathing it onto a sheath on his back. He then held out his hand to me.

"It's nice to finally meet you! I've heard alot of stories about your adventures. My name is Ryan. What's yours?"

I slowly took his hand, which was noticeably smaller, and gave it a shake.

"Arke. It's good to meet you too, Ryan. And an honor to meet the legendary Darkblade."

Ryan gives me a big grin, and as we shake hands, a small *ahem* can be heard. We turn back to Lucina, who has sheathed Falchion and is now standing in a pose that reminds me greatly of an impatient child waiting for her mother to finish buying something. I let out a small laugh as I turn my attention to her.

"Yes, Princess?"

"If your little meet-and-greet is over now, perhaps we might continue on our way?"

I nod, turning back to Ryan.

"You must have gotten into here somehow. Can you show us the exit?"

He nods excitedly, a little sparkle in his eyes as he starts to fast walk in a side tunnel only a few feet away from us. Huh. I didn't see that there at all.

"This way! You don't want to take that big tunnel. A giant group of Risen is just outside it."

I turn back to Lucina and give her a mock bow.

"Ladies first."

She simply huffs and hurries off after Ryan. I chuckle lightly as I take one more look around the huge cavern and walk after Lucina.

Little did I know that another figure had been watching the whole escapade from the shadows nearby; and if I had known, then perhaps this story would have ended a little happier.

-GUARDSMEN-

Hello, beautiful people! Nate back again for another Author's Note! First, I'll just say it; this chapter was probably a little more uneventful than what you were hoping, but that's kinda how the story is going to develop. One chapter will be more on information and character development, and the other will most likely be more action. I might switch things up depending on how things turn out, but it will usually stay in this pattern. I would also like to apologize for how late this chapter is! I promise that it wont always take a month for me to write a chapter, but if it does sometimes, it will usually be because im kinda busy this time of year. I'm sorry! Dont hit me! PUT DOWN THE BAT, DAMNIT!

Oh, by the way, still looking for about two more OC's to fill in the party we have. As you just saw, Ryan Darkblade, courtesy of ShadowRX, has joined the party! If you want to send one in, remember to make the subject FE GUARDSMEN: OC so I can keep things organized. Also remember that I will NOT be supplying a form. You can use your own, or send me a rough idea of what you had and you and me can see if we can buff it up to its potential. And happy birthday to those reading on their birthday! Keep on shining, people!

-Nate


	3. A Shrewd Salesman

CHAPTER 3: A Shrewd Salesman

The muddy slope beneath our feet grew more and more into dirt than mud as we progressed upwards through the small side tunnel. It was rather dark, only one torch about every fifty steps, so we let Ryan lead the way with Lucina in middle and I in back. Ryan was constantly humming this little tune as we walked, and while it didn't seem to bother Lucina that much, it was driving me INSANE. His humming would get so off key, you couldn't tell if he was humming or screaming with his mouth closed.

Luckily, Lucina came to my aid in the form of conversation.

"So, Arke...what is this 'Guardsmen' you two kept going on about? Some sort of secret society?"

Dammit! I had hoped that she wouldn't delve too deep into that. I could lie to her and say that it was just a club of some sort, but if the Princess is going to be traveling with us, she needs to learn to trust us. We'll get nowhere if she's always expecting a dagger to the back.

I look up to Ryan to see if he has any opinion on this, but he seems to be in another world, almost dancing as he trudges up the slope, still humming that gods damned song at a horrible pitch. I sigh and turn back to Lucina.

"Not exactly. We're a special guard, devoted entirely to serving and protecting the Royal Family at all costs. Your safety is our priority."

She pondered this for a few moments.

"So you did lie to me."

I raised an eyebrow. THAT'S what's she's concerned about? Me lying to her?

"Well, yes, but I wasn't sure if I w-"

"Don't do it ever again. If you're sworn to protect me, then that means you have to follow my orders, right?"

I could feel my face put on an expression of disbelief as I stared at her, dumbfounded. That was a very sudden change in mood; she's all serious now.

"Technically yes, but I don't see why that per-"

"Then I order you to not hide anything else that's important from me. Understand?"

I sighed. There was no way she was going to back down from this, so I might as well amuse her. I gave her another small bow.

"Of course, My Lady."

She smiled again, this time lasting a little longer before she turned her head back and continued staring at the ground. Poor thing; her mind must be swimming with questions about what's going to happen.

"I can see the entrance! Just a few more steps!"

Ryan called down to us a few minutes later, and thank goodness too. Any more of that humming and I would have had to clonk him on the back of his head. We stepped out from the hole and into the cold, dark, desolate landscape that is the wastes. Not too far in the distance I can spot the castle, still spewing smoke from the fire. I try not to look; that place had been my home most of my life, and to see it burn like that is heartbreaking.

It seems the tunnel leads out to a little slope, so we have a bit of height to check out the wastes and see if there's anything we need to worry about. I step over to the edge of the slope and search the horizon. The only thing of interest would be that group of Risen; Heroes, Warriors, and Paladins from the look of it. They seem to be surrounding something.

I turn back to the other two, who have seemed to be having a small chat.

"Ryan, there's a group of Risen out there acting suspicious. I'm going to check it out. You want to come with me?"

Ryan tore his gaze from Lucina and shot me a look of excitement; he's probably grinning under that mask of his.

"You had me at Risen!"

He pulls his Katana out and walks over next to me. I point out the group of interest so he can get a look at it.

"Hey, i'd like to go too!"

I turn my head back to Lucina.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Lucina. Those are some tough looking Risen. I know you can handle yourself in a fight, but those guys look mean.

She sent me a scowl as she turned to Ryan, who just shrugged and turned back to looking at the Risen, with an air of 'I'm not getting in this one'.

"As the Princess of Ylisse, I demand you take me with you!"

I rolled my eyes. Of course she pulls that card. Never should have told her that she can give orders. I let out a long sigh, then nod my head.

"Alright, fine. But stay close, okay? We can't afford to lose you."

She nodded, her gaze steeling as she marched over to my left, Ryan still on my right observing the Risen. After a minute, he turns to me.

"Looks like three Warriors, three Heroes, and two Paladins. Think we can take 'em?"

I grin as I look down at him.

"This seems a little unfair. They're gonna need some reinforcements!"

He lets out a hollow laugh, and we all slide down the slope and begin making our way towards the squad of Risen. As we begin nearing them, I hear the clashing of steel and the grunts of combat. Someone must be fighting them! We pick up the pace, the grunting getting louder, until we are stopped by two Warriors, both of which are carrying Silver Axe's.

I bring my fists up at ready position, Ryan throws his hood over his head, his excited expression gone and replaced with one of seriousness, and Lucina draws Falchion and holds it at the ready.

The Warrior to my left let out a savage cry and darted forward towards me, as the other simply grunts and rushes towards Ryan. As the Warrior brings his Axe down towards me, I sidestep and bring a knee up to its gut. It let's out a large groan and a wheeze from the impact, and I step back and bring a Rexcalibur - charged fist into its chest. The magic in my punch sends him flying into the air, caught in a green tornado. After a second or two, it dissipates, and the Warrior falls a good fifty feet to the ground, with a loud SNAP, before fading away.

I look over to Ryan, who hasn't moved an inch, save for drawing his katana. The Warrior is still rushing at him, showing no sign of slowing, and as he reaches Ryan, he swings his Axe sideways, aiming to rip Ryan in two. However, Ryan had different plans; he deftly leaps over the Warrior as it strikes and, pulling what seems to be a kunai from one of his many pockets, deftly sinks it into the back of the Warriors neck. The Warrior drops it's axe and falls to its knee, desperately trying to remove the dagger from its neck. But Ryan wasn't finished quite yet. He turned to the Warrior and gave the kunai a swift kick sideways. The Warriors' head turns sickeningly, and Ryan pushes it over with one finger. It falls to the ground, unmoving, as it fades away.

I raise an eyebrow towards Ryan, my stomach feeling a little queasy from the display.

"Was the kick really necessary?"

He simply turns to look at me and replies in a monotone voice.

"A simple stab wasn't going to do it. You know that."

I stand there for a moment, then shrug. He was right; these things aren't normal men. A regular stab would have finished it with a normal man, but you do have to go the full mile with these things.

We return our attention to the rest of the group, and I can finally get a view of what it was the Risen were after.

It seems to be a man, around Ryan's height, with long light green hair and a goatee to match. He seems to be wearing what appears to be Dark Mage robes, but they appear to have been recolored; a blue cape with yellow trim, a blue tunic, blue pants with a yellow belt, some yellow shoes, and a pair of yellow gloves. Blue and yellow are Ylissean colors, so I would assume he's friendly.

Though he is wearing the robes of a Dark Mage, he seems to be fighting off the last Warrior with a sword; a Silver Sword to be precise, but it seems to have some sort of blue jewel in the hilt; Sapphires, perhaps? Just by watching how he barely parries the Axe swings and how he strikes with the sword, I can tell he hasn't had any training with it whatsoever, but he seems to be holding his own pretty well.

Well, it would seem that way, if he wasn't just knocked down from the sheer power of the Warrior's axe swing; he just barely blocked it. I figured now would be a good time to intervene. I turn to Ryan and Lucina as I begin charging a spell in my gauntlets.

"Ryan, those Heroes are closing in on us. Take Lucina and get rid of them before they box us in and those Paladins finish us off."

He nods quickly before grabbing Lucina's hand and heading over to the nearest Hero, which was wielding a Brave Sword and looked like it would rather be anywhere else; strange for a Risen, but I turned my attention back to the man.

The Warrior is holding it's axe high above its head, ready to swing the final blow against its prey. I quickly send my spell into it, the tornado knocking it off its feet and to the side, tumbling around before coming to a halt on the ground.

I rush over to the man and hold out a hand to him, and that's when I get my first good look at him and realize who he is.

"Loren?"

The man looks up at me with an equally puzzled expression.

"Arke?"

He takes my hand, and I pull him to his feet.

"It is you, Loren! It's been a while."

He nods, the scowl that seems to always be on his face slowly returning..

"Heh, not long enough if you ask me."

I roll my eyes at his comment. Loren has always been like this, always the cynical one. You'd think he'd be more grateful to someone who saved his life, but….

"What in the Gods names are you doing out here, Loren?"

Loren gives me a condescending look.

"Oh, you know, just enjoying the weather. Lovely this time of year, isn't it?"

"Har diddly har, Loren. Why are you really out here?"

Loren rolls his pale green orbs before returning his gaze to me.

"Looking for the Princess, you dingus. What else would I be doing? Picking flowers? Building sandcastles?"

I sigh. Really, he needs to just get that stick out of his arse and loosen up a little.

"Well, look no further. The Princess is with me and Darkblade."

His ears perk up at the mention of the Princess.

"She's with you? How the heck did she survive? I heard she was confronted by the Fell Dragon himself."

I nod, scratching my beard.

"Yeah, I managed to distract him long enough to get her out of the castle. He doesn't know about the Underground, so he shouldn't know we're out here."

I feel a tug on my foot and look down to see the broken body of the Warrior I thought I had defeated. It looks up at me with dead, glowing eyes and let's out a groan.

"I got it."

Loren promptly inserts his sword into the Warriors face and leans on it, turning his attention back to me as the Warrior fades away.

"So you're traveling with the Princess and...Darkblade? Really? Out of all the people to run into, you find HIM?"

"Yeah, that's right. You know, you really haven't even met the guy. You should give him a chance. You might grow to like him."

He scoffs as he takes his sword out of the ground and puts it back into its sheath on his hip.

"Yeah, and maybe this entire Armageddon thing is all just a fever dream."

I sigh, putting two fingers on the bridge of my nose and rubbing it. There really is no getting through to this guy; even back in the days before this Armageddon, when he was still the castle quartermaster, he was always a pain in the ass. Glad to see nothing has changed around here.

"We can finish this later. Right now we have to deal with the rest of these Risen."

He looks away for a second before turning back to me.

"Yeah, about that...I'm more of a lover than a fighter."

I raise an eyebrow at his statement.

"…riiiight.. Lucina and Ryan aren't too far out. Just stay with Lucina while me and Ryan take care of the rest. Don't let anything happen to her, got it?"

He waves his hand around in a pish-posh manner.

"Yeah, I know the drill. I'm a Guardsman too, you know."

I nod, and we both start running towards Ryan and Lucina. Ryan has taken out two Heroes already, and is just finishing up with the third as we reach him, pulling out the dagger he had just thrust through the Hero's head. We stop a few feet from them and I introduce Loren to them.

"Lucina, Ryan, I'd like you meet a...friend of mine. His name is Lo-"

I am cut off by Lucina rushing forward and wrapping Loren in a hug.

"Uncle Loren! It's so good to see that you're safe"

Me and Ryan both stand there at a loss for words as we stare at the scene before us. Loren clears his throat and pats Lucina on the head, which I could tell was a little hard for him to do, given his height.

"Hey, kiddo. Yeah, nice to see you too. Now could you get off please? You're kinda breaking my spine."

Lucina finally realizes that she's been hugging with all her might, and let's go of Loren, taking a moment to compose herself. I take this time to question Loren about this.

"You're...her Uncle?"

He sighs, crossing his arms.

"Not biologically, no. We've just...known each other for a while."

Ryan steps up to him, emotion showing in his eyes again as he sizes Loren up.

"Wow, you're shorter than I am! How old are you?"

Loren's face turns a shade of red as he coughs and grumbles it out.

"I'm...twenty five."

Ryan starts to laugh his arse off, which in context was a very bad idea.

"Hahahahaha! Twenty five!? Oh man, that's gotta suck! Haha!"

Loren only sighs and shakes his head, that scowl that always seems to be on his face growing larger.

"Can we just get rid of these Risen, please?"

I nod as I whack Ryan on the back of the head. Ryan let's out a yelp of pain, and turns to me.

"What the heck was that for, Gramps!?"

"Respect your elders, Ryan."

I turn to where the two Paladins have been mysteriously waiting this whole time. I nudge Ryan who looks in my direction and nods, putting his hand into a pocket and pulling out a couple of throwing stars.

"Lucina, stay here with Loren. These guys are fast; it's better if you stay here."

Before she has a chance to respond, we both start running forward towards the Paladins. The Paladins finally notice us, and let out a large savage yell before they spur their horses and begin charging at us, their Silver Lances pointed right towards our heads.

I stop myself and Ryan and bring him close to me.

"I have an idea. Get out some more throwing stars."

He looks up at me with a puzzled look, but nods and reaches into another pocket and pulls out a handful of stars.

"Okay, now what?"

I grin as I look down at him, then pick him up with both hands.

"Hope you land on your feet."

With that, I throw him, his direction bringing him right between the two Paladins. Though he is still confused, he seems to have realized the plan. As he sails between the Paladins, he throws all his stars at them, then promptly lands, feet first, a couple more feet away.

The two Paladins both fall of their horses and let out small groans before they too fade away, their entire bodies littered with the stars. I cross my arms and grin as I watch Ryan walk back, a grin on his face.

When he gets to me, he explodes with excitement as he begins to describe what it felt like to fly and be cool at the same time. I laugh a deep, hearty laugh; the first true laugh I've had in a long time.

"Something told me you would enjoy it. Maybe we should do it more often."

Ryan looks up at me and nods his head vigorously.

"Definitely! Just, uh...tell me when you're going to do it, alright?"

I chuckle and give him a nod, and with that, we head back to Loren and Lucina. When we arrive, I can overhear some idle chatter between the two; it seems they both dropped their guard when we set out to fight the Paladins, and my guess is that they didn't even see our little flight test. I clear my throat to make my presence known, and they both turn to me.

"All Risen around here have been taken care of. We need to keep moving Princess.

She nods as she turns back to Loren.

"You'll come with us, right? I don't want to lose you, Uncle."

Loren once again tries to pat her head and a...smile crawls onto his face? By the gods! He can smile! Well there's something you don't see everyday.

"I sure will, Squirt."

I suppress a laugh. Squirt? That's her nickname? Oh boy, when this is over, do I have some teasing to do...

"Right then. We best get moving."

I tell them this as I start marching to the path in the woods. Before I can get far, I am stopped by Lucina running ahead of me.

"Perhaps we might rest for the night? It's rather late, and we all need our strength."

I look down at her and scratch my beard, only to realize how tired I am. I nod slowly, looking around the woods and spotting a small clearing through the trees.

"We'll make camp there. Should be relative safe."

We all funnel into the clearing and make a small fire. Loren takes a few rabbits from his Knapsack that he had been carrying and we all have a decent meal. Before I know it, they're all fast asleep and it's just me awake, staring into the flames.

Who would have thought my life could have gone to hell so quickly? Heh, well I sure didn't. I wonder how everyone is holding up so far. Do they miss their families? Do Loren and Ryan even have families?And poor Lucina…she doesn't even know where Cynthia is, not to mention her parents already passed long ago.

Question after question fills my head, and eventually, I too fall into a deep slumber, the orange cinders leaving a small glow around the campsite..

-GUARDSMEN-

Yo yo yo! Nate back with another edition of Author's Note! So yeah, there's another OC for you, Loren, courtesy of Makmix, thanks for sending him! I hope this update is faster than you guys expected, as I said before, I won't always take a month. Not much else to say here really, heheh. Oh, and do try to review! I need your opinions on how you think the chapter went! I'll never grow as a writer if I don't get some feedback.

By the way, I'm still looking for OC's, particularly female OC's, but don't let that discourage you if you have a male OC! So if you still want to send one in, take a gander at those rules I have in the first and second chapters. I would put them here, but I'm too damn lazy. Don't hit me! And as always, if it's your birthday today, have a happy one, and keep shining people!

-Nate


	4. Southtown's Sentinel

CHAPTER FOUR: SOUTHTOWN'S SENTINEL

I awake the next morning to the sun shining brightly, and to the crackle of a fire. It seems someone must have woken up before me and restarted the fire. I sit up from my spread eagle position on the ground and rub my neck. I guess staying in the Castle for so long has made me go soft; I'm not used to sleeping on something so hard yet.

On top of the fire a bronze kettle hangs suspended, steam rising from the inside of it and a delicious smell wafting away from it. I look up from the fire and see Loren and Lucina both sitting on the ground, Loren peeling a potato and reminiscing with Lucina about old times in the castle.

"I remember when you used to be shorter than me. Good times, those were. Made me feel like I was still a man and not a boy still going through puberty."

Lucina laughed, turning her attention to the kettle and moving the ladle inside in a stirring motion; must be some sort of soup.

"Everything seems to be a matter of height with you. Is size that much of a problem for you, Loren?"

Lucina gave him a large grin, Loren blushing a beet red as he puts the now peeled and diced potato in the pot.

"Hey, size isn't everything you know. It's about how you-"

I interrupt his little metaphor by clearing my throat.

"So is breakfast almost ready?"

Both Loren and Lucina jump slightly; they must not have seen me rise. Loren looks at me with his usual scowl, the red from before slowly fading away.

"Well, good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty. Yeah, it's almost ready. Why don't you wake Ryan up for me?"

I give him an annoyed stare, my eyebrow rising.

"And what's your excuse for not waking him up yourself?"

Loren shrugs, taking the ladle from Lucina and stirring a bit faster, tasting a bit of it.

"Too cranky for a sarcastic response right now. Ask me again later."

I look over to Lucina, who merely shrugs, the same silly grin from before still on her face. I roll my eyes, sigh, and stand up, stretching as I go, then brushing off all the dirt on my armor and cape. Once clean, I look around to try and spot Ryan. After a minute, I spot him about twenty feet away from the actual campsite we were at.

I walk over to his sleeping person and raise my eyebrow at what I see. He's curled in a little ball, hugging his katana still in its sheath like a teddy bear. I sigh yet again, twice in one morning, and kneel down to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking it.

"Wake up, Ryan. Time to face the day."

His only response is to flail violently, only stopping once he has flipped over to the other side, still in the same position as before. I blink a couple times before standing back up and putting a hand to my beard, giving it a few strokes as I try to think up a plan to not get whacked in the face while still waking him up.

Suddenly, a light bulb goes off in my head, and an idea begins taking place. I walk back over to Loren, who is now digging in his knapsack while Lucina merely stares at the flames.

'Hey Loren, the soup is ready now, right?"

He doesn't even look up at me, neck - deep in his pack

"Yeah, it's ready, I'm just looking for some bowls in here."

"Good."

I wait patiently for Loren to finish digging around, and he eventually pulls out four bowls and fills all of them with the soup. The soup is warm, and appears to be made up of some type of broth with carrots, some other vegetables, and pieces of potato. I take two and walk back over to Ryan, setting one bowl on the opposite side of his head, and placing mine a few feet away from him. I then quickly shake him again, then dash back to my bowl, sitting down and eating some soup as I watch Ryan thrash violently again. After his thrashing ends, he again turns his body the other direction...and puts his face straight into his soup.

His head immediately shoots upward, his face covered in soup and pieces of carrot, wiping some off of his mask.

"What the? What is this stuff?!"

I suppress a laugh as I look at his soup splattered face; reminds me alot of a Jester and his makeup.

"Breakfast. Morning, Sunshine."

His sits up, wiping soup off his face with his sleeves as he looks over to me.

"Was that really neccesary?"

I shrug back at him, a grin crawling onto my face.

"You and I both know a simple 'wake up' won't wake you."

He sighs as he wipes the remaining soup off his face, then takes the bowl and turns away from me. Guess he doesn't want me to see him eating, with that mask. I sigh, standing back up and slurping my own bowl at a leisurely pace while walking back to Loren and Lucina. I've finished my bowl as I reach them, handing the empty container to Loren.

"Alright, finish your breakfast and pack up. We need to leave soon if we're gonna make good time."

Lucina looks up to me, confusion etched across her face.

"Arke, where are we even going? You haven't told me a thing since the caves."

I look down at her while adjusting my gauntlets to make sure they didn't loosen up while I slept.

"We're going to Southtown. We have to pass through there to get where we need to go."

She sighs and shakes her head.

"No, Arke. What is our final destination?"

"It's a special place where we can communicate with Naga, Lucina. Trust me, I know where I'm going."

She sighs before turning to Loren, who simply shrugs before turning back to his pack.

"Don't look at me. He hasn't told me a thing, remember? Speaking of which..."

He closes his knapsack and turns to me.

"You want to fill me in here?"

I roll my eyes.

"I'll explain on the way. Get everything prepared."

Half the day has passed now, and we're almost to Southtown. The road was surprisingly safe and clear of Risen, which only made us more suspicious; there have to be Risen around here somewhere, and if they're not in one place, there's probably a horde of them just around the corner.

"Okay, so let me just recap this one more time."

Loren steps up next to me as we walk and matches my pace.

"So, Grima has pretty much killed everyone who even has the slightest chance of killing him. And your bright idea is to go BACK IN TIME to stop Chrom from dying and get him to stop Grima from arriving."

My eyes glance over to him.

"That's the gist of what we're doing, yeah."

He stays silent for a second.

"Well, I don't see how that plan could fail. Oh, wait. Yes I do. Haven't you thought about the chance that Naga won't help us?"

"Of course I have, Loren. But it's the only plan we have, and I don't see YOU coming up with any bright ideas."

Loren grumbles something under his breath before he falls back to walk with Lucina and Ryan, both of which have been making little small talk about Southtown as we've been walking; Ryan mainly asking how it's survived this long, and Lucina giving half-assed answers.

"But the Risen have been trying to break into that town for months! How come they haven't fallen yet?"

"I don't know, Ryan. Maybe some expert warrior is defending them. Hehe, that would be a sight to see."

We walk in silence for a few more minutes, until we eventually spot buildings in the distance. Southtown at last! But...something is off. As we get closer to Southtown's main gate, we see that the gate is flooded with Risen constantly pounding on it, trying to break it down. Every type of Risen was there, from Archers to Myrmidon and even Knights.

I crack my knuckles and turn around to my little group, a small grin crawling onto my face.

"Looks like we've got a little detour, gang. Ryan, you're with me. Loren, stay close to Lucina. Back her up where it's needed."

They both nod, pulling out their weapons, Ryan throwing his hood over his head. Lucina merely points over to the gate, a look of confusion crawling onto her face.

"That may not be neccesary."

I turn back around and raise an eyebrow at what I see: A lone figure standing behind the horde of Risen; they must not have noticed it yet. We're not that far from the figure, so I can make out what it's wearing.

The figure seems to be wearing a white helmet, but it seems that a white hooded cape has been flung over it, so I can't quite make it out. It also seems to be wearing a white chestplate, with a white vest underneath. There appears to be white gauntlets covering it's hands and forearms, with some blue trim as well. A pair of grey pants covers its legs, as well as some white waist armor, though it only seems to cover the sides of its waist, as well as a belt with a rather large buckle to it, and some white greaves with blue trim layer its feet. In its left hand it holds a large white shield, and in its right it holds what appears to be a spear, but only at one end; on the other end appears to be an axe blade of some sort.

Ryan walks up to me and nudges my arm.

"That's Lancer armor, no questioning it. You rarely see those guys anymore, though."

I nod, still staring at the newcomer as it beats on its shield with its weapon, attracting the attention of the Risen. They all slowly turn to the maker of the noise and let out a collective growl, and they begin shambling their way towards the figure. The figure doesn't move, instead grabbing hold of its weapon and pulling it into two pieces! The spear of its weapon now resides in its left hand, and the axe part in its right. It then proceeds to charge at the mob, stabbing and slashing like a madman.

I pull myself away from this spectacle and turn back to the group.

"Well, come on then! Are we going to let that guy have all the fun?"

Ryan lets out a holler and begins running forward towards the mob.

"Hell no!"

I laugh as I watch him run, then take off after him, sending the remnants of my Rexcalibur magic at any Risen that get too close. When I reach Ryan I see he's already entered the fray, slashing through Risen like butter. A few feet away, Loren and Lucina are double teaming their own fair share of Risen, hacking and slashing like no tommorow. I look around for another second and spot the hooded figure again, too preoccupied with its slashing that it doesn't spot the Barbarian behind it, Axe raised and ready to slash.

I sprint over to said Risen and tackle it to the ground, then proceed to sit on top it and give it a savage beat down, it's face indenting with each punch. I give one more then stand, and I turn to the figure who is now staring at me through its hood.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

It's voice was a little high pitched...just who was this person?

"Don't thank me yet. There's still plenty of Risen to go around."

The figure nods and reattaches it's weapon, forming the spear again. The fighting after that was rather uneventful, a few Myrmidon here and there, the occasional Archer...but we did eventually get them all, thank the gods they weren't very smart Risen.

We all gather together in front of Southtown's gate, including the figure. Loren and Lucina look no worse for wear, but Ryan seems to have Risen blood covering him nearly everywhere. The figure, still hooded for some reason, bows its head at us, its spear stuck in the ground next to it.

"T-thank you for your help..."

Ryan pulls his hood down, his usual innocent look covering his face.

"No problem! But if you'll excuse me, I REALLY need to take a bath. Risen blood doesn't wash out well."

Ryan tries to rush past us to get into Southtown, but in his haste to do so, ends up plowing straight into the stranger, effectively knocking both of them over. They both let out a little yelp as they fall, stirring up a little dust cloud when the reach the ground. The impact seems to have knocked the helmet off the stranger, as the white piece of armor rolls to my feet. I bend over to pick up, and wait for the dust cloud to settle.

Ryan has his face in the dirt, but with the helmet off and the hood down, we finally get a good look at our stranger. Who appears to be-

"A woman!? Aww, crap. I have the worst luck..."

Loren grumbles as he hands Lucina a small pouch of gold, which she graciously accepts with a rather large smirk. But Loren was right; It is a woman. The woman sits up, her long blonde hair falling behind her in a long ponytail, her large blue eyes looking up at us as she rubs her back from the fall. Her face is rather feminine too; I'm surprised I couldn't figure this out earlier.

I reach out and extend a hand for her, which she gently takes, and I pull her up.

"That was some impressive fighting, Miss...?"

She looks around a little nervously before answering.

"Selan, sir. Selan Ravenstride."

"Ravenstride? Odd name. Are you a soldier, Selan?"

She nods, standing up a bit more straight.

"Yes, sir. I-I was assigned to guard Southtown u-until reinforcements arrived, sir."

I scratch my beard, deep in thought. This girl couldn't be any more older than twenty two, yet I don't see any other soldiers around. She must be a very experienced fighter to be assigned to hold an entire town by herself...

Loren moves over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, whispering to me.

"Hey Arke, isn't this the girl we were supposed to be watching?"

I whispered back to him with a a little confusion.

"Huh? What girl?"

"You know, the one we were supposed to evaluate about accepting into the Guardsmen?"

"Oh, that girl? I don't know Loren, it's rather fuzzy. I don't exactly remember everything that happens."

Loren sighs, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Just ask her what her call sign is then. She's supposed to have one."

I roll my eyes, but turn back to Selan, crossing my arms together.

"Selan. Would the term The Sentinel ring any bells for you?:

Selan nervously shifts around, and I can see that she's sneaking peeks at Lucina, but every time she does, her eyes dart somewhere else and she blushes a little.

"Y-yes, sir, that's what everyone used to call me. Sentinel."

I turn to Loren, who nods his head. I turn back to Selan and begin walking towards her. I can see her take a single step back, but straightens up as I stand in front of her. I give her a smile as I hand her her helmet.

"We need to resupply here, perhaps stay for the night. How are provisions?:

She slowly takes her helmet from my hands before answering me.

"W-We've had an excess for a while, s-sir. One of the r-reasons I needed to stay here was b-because of that."

I nod as I turn to to Loren and Lucina.

"Alright, Loren, if you could please pick up Ryan and bring him to the tavern? It seems that he kinda...knocked himself out."

I finish this sentence with a poke to Ryan's head with my foot, who doesn't move. Loren rolls his eyes and steps toward Ryan and begins to drag him.

"Sure. It's not like I had anything better to do or something."

I raise an eyebrow at him.

"You DON'T have anything better to do."

"Anything would have been better than this."

And with that, he disappears inside the gate. I turn to Lucina, then Selan.

"Selan, do you mind showing Lucina to the sleeping quarters?"

Selan's eyes widen as she stares at me, occasionally looking over at Lucina, the blush from before returning.

"Me, sir? Escort the...Princess?"

I nod, a suspicious look clawing it's way up to my face.

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"

She shakes her head violently, standing up straight.

"No, sir! It would be my pleasure!"

I nod at her, turning to Lucina.

"I have to go have a look at their provisions and see what stuff we need. Get some rest, alright? I've a feeling it might be the most you get in a while."

She looks up at me like she's about to object, but simply nods and follows Selan inside the gates. Huh. That was easier than I expected. I guess she's finally learning to trust me.

I take one last look at our little battlefield, and something catches my eye. It appears to be another figure standing by a far away tree, shrouded in black. I rub my eyes, thinking it's just me getting tired, and sure enough, when I open them again the figure is gone. I sigh, turning around and walking through the wooden gates, then turning again and closing said gates, locking them up tight, shutting out my paranoia with the figure with them.

-GUARDSMEN-

Greetings, dear readers! Necro-Knight back for yet another edition of the Author's Note! Really only two things of importance this time, ladies and gents. First, I should inform all of you that enjoy Halo that I will soon be starting a story for that, and it too shall be a SYOC, but unlike this one, where I was a bit more lenient with the amount of OC's, there will only be THREE OC's, not including mine. I say three because it's relevant to the plot, and adding any more would probably throw the plot a massive curveball that I don't want. And don't worry, it will come with an actual form this time, as Halo is a bit more complicated than Fire Emblem, so I feel it's necessary, even if I don't like it. Speaking of OC's, that brings us to the second thing! I am still taking in character's to review and judge, but I am in DIRE need of female OC's! Please send some of those, cause if you don't, it's just gonna be a huge sausage-fest, and poor Selan will be the only female in the midst of it. So please, send in some female OC's!

Well, that's everything that needs to be said, so until next time, keep shining people! And happy birthday to those reading on their birthday!

-Nate (The guy writing this story.)


End file.
